Student Left in DEA Cell Nearly Starves to Death … Drinks Urine to Survive

Left locked in a Drug Enforcement Agency cell, no food, no water a University of California at San Diego student nearly dies of starvation and thirst.

23-year-old Daniel Chong says that in order to survive he consumed his own waste, and carved a message in his arm to his mother before he was finally discovered by agents after 5 days in the cell.

The 5 foot by 10 foot windowless and toiletless cell should have been his last stop before his release.

Chong inadvertently picked up in a raid on an apartment and taken to the DEA’s San Diego headquarters were he along with 8 other people were questioned. Reportedly the DEA determined that Chong was not involved and they were going to release him. He was left in the cell awaiting his realease.

Chong says he pounded and screamed but no one helped him. He also says that he could hear DEA agents on the other side of the cell door.

Chong drank his own urine to stay alive.

According to the San Diego Union Tribune Chong broke his eyeglasses and carved a message into his arm saying “Sorry Mom”. Then after he began hallucinating he also inadvertently attempted to eat some of the pieces from his broken eyeglasses.

In a statement the DEA says

“An individual was detained during a raid on a suspected MDMA distribution organization. On April 21, Narcotics Task Force arrested/detained nine defendants in connection with a State of California investigation. During a search warrant where the individual in question was detained, there was approximately 18,000 pills of MDMA seized, along with marijuana, prescription medications and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Also seized were crushed pills which tested positive for MDMA/amphetamine; along with a white powdery substance which the defendants told agents was a controlled substance called “2CE2CI”, a synthetic hallucinogen. Also seized at this residence were a Russian M91/30 rifle, a Glock 17 handgun, and a Beretta 92fs handgun, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition.

The individual in question was at the house, by his own admission, to get high with his friends. All defendants were brought back to the DEA office to be fingerprinted, photographed, and interviewed. While being processed, the suspects were moved around the 5 cells at the DEA facility. Each suspect was interviewed in separate interview rooms, and frequently moved around between rooms and cells. All suspects were searched incident to arrest, but none were strip or body cavity searched.

Seven suspects were brought to county detention after processing, one was released and the individual in question was accidentally left in one of the cells.

When Agents found the individual in question, they were told by the individual that he had used a white powdery substance that he found in the cell. The agents who found the young man in question called EMS, and field tested the substance, which tested positive for methamphetamine.

Agents told EMS that the individual had stated that he had used this substance. The substance was tested so EMS would have that information for treatment.

DEA plans to thoroughly review both the events and detention procedures on April 21st and after.”